


Mindboggling

by melonpanparade



Series: One for the Books [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:17:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1744337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonpanparade/pseuds/melonpanparade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin learns how to play boggle for the first time. Jean learns that Armin has a bit of a competitive streak. Meanwhile, Jean’s mother thinks the boys are doing the do in Jean’s room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mindboggling

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Jearmin Week 2013 (prompt: teamwork).
> 
> Originally posted on tumblr [here.](http://melonpanparade.tumblr.com/post/68723855872)
> 
> Many thanks to [Aespren](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Aespren/) for providing me with a title for the fic and the series. Without her help and persuasion, this wouldn't have been published on AO3.

Jean flops on to his bed, exhausted from trying to fend off his mother’s persistent questions as he guided Armin up the stairs to his room. Her voice is still audible through the walls and the firmly shut door, asking the boys if they want anything to eat or drink.

Armin is partially listening to Jean’s mother; most of his attention is focused on the bookshelves lining the walls in the room. A thin film of dust coats the books, indicating that they haven’t been touched for a while. He makes a mental note to himself to ask Jean if he can borrow a few before he left. And perhaps when the timing is right, to ask if he can stay over one night, and then maybe they can stay up late and read books together.

“I didn’t expect your room to look like this.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Jean lazily looks up at him from where he lies, sprawled out on his bed.

“It’s a good thing.” Armin gently puts his bag on the floor before making his way to one of the bookshelves. “You have so many books in your room. Do you mind if I look?”

“Go ahead.”

Jean watches as Armin runs his fingers along the spines of the books and listens to him hum happily as he thumbs through a few titles. He can’t help but laugh when Armin scrunches up his face, a habit he observes Armin doing when he tries to memorise things.

“You know, you can borrow them. I haven’t read these books in a while.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ve been borrowing books from the library anyway.”

“Then you can be my own personal library.” It doesn’t take long for him to choose a few books to pack away in his bag.

“Personal library, huh?” Jean sits up momentarily to look Armin squarely in the face. “Or perhaps this is just a strategic move on your part to invite yourself to my place whenever you feel like it?”

“Not at all, Jean.” Armin holds his gaze steady, but the lilt in his voice reveals his true intentions. “I mean, it’s only taken you a year or so to invite me over to your house; why would I want to invite myself when I can just wait for you to invite me again in a year’s time?”

Jean dramatically falls back on to his bed, muffling into the pillow, “Fine, you win.”

A brief period of silence follows after, save for the soft sounds of Armin padding around the room.

“I’m surprised you even have plants in your room.”

“Yeah, the old woman says that they’re good for relaxing your eyes or something. I dunno. Says my monitor is too big.”

“Speaking of, what’s this?” Armin is now seated at Jean’s computer, staring blankly at the grid of letters on the screen.

“Hm?” There’s the faint sound of blankets and sheets rustling while Jean repositions himself so he is propped up on his elbows and facing his monitor. “Oh, that. It’s boggle, but you play against people online. I was playing it before you came.”

“Boggle?”

“You’ve never heard of it?” Armin shakes his head.

“All you need to do is make as many words from the letters on the grid in three minutes. They need to be three or more letters and the tiles have to touch. I think you’d be good at it. Try it?”

“Hm, okay.”

Three minutes pass with the slow but steady tapping of the keys, and a couple of choice words quietly muttered.

“Armin? Armin, you can stop typing now. The time is over!” The results show up on the screen and Armin’s expression changes from immense concentration to one of frustration and disappointment.

“The time is over already?! But there are so many more words I had left to write!” There’s a brief pause as Armin leans forward to scrutinise the screen. “I was just about to type in _pentad,_ and as if  _onesie_ is an acceptable word _._ Ugh, I can’t believe I only got bronze.”

“Maybe you need to type with more than two fingers.”

“Fine then, you come here and do it!”

“I’ll show you how the pro does it.” When Jean sits down, he is acutely aware of the way Armin’s breath ghosts over his neck from where he stands behind him.

Thirty seconds later, impatient sighs have given way to frantic pointing and loud, curt suggestions, and Jean isn’t even sure if he’s with the same boy any more.

“ _Nemo_ ’s right there! How can you not have gotten  _nemo_ yet?” Jean can feel Armin scowling behind him as he hisses accusingly, “You know  _Finding Nemo_ is my favourite movie.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t put it in—as if  _nemo_ is actually a word!”

“It is!” Jean reluctantly types it in to appease the competitive boggle demon he’s awakened, groaning inwardly when he hears Armin triumphantly say, “I told you so.”

Armin has yelled out twenty or so odd words by now, and Jean is positive he’s only caught about seven of them as he struggles to simultaneously type in his own words and filter Armin’s word suggestions from the barrage of offhand comments.

“That’s the third time you’ve typed in  _tolep_ and it’s still not a word, and it never will be! Why don’t you put in something like  _tepees_ instead? Or, you know,  _steepen, pestle, molten_?” 

“Calm down! I’m typing as fast as I can.”

“You mean, typing in words that aren’t even in the dictionary.” Armin is edgy and it’s rubbing off on Jean too. “Are you just putting in random words now??”

“I can’t see what I’m typing if you keep on covering the screen with your hands!”

“Well if you actually used your eyes and found some real words I wouldn’t have to point them out.”

Three minutes are over in a flash, and now that Jean has had time to breathe, he finds himself grinning at how outspoken and  _sassy_ Armin can be. It’s not a complete surprise—Armin tends to be quite aggressive when it comes to sharing views on literature, occasionally blowing up brief exchanges into heated arguments. The prospect of entertainment for the afternoon is too good to pass up, and Armin’s fighting spirit hasn’t dampened one bit from barely ranking silver.

“Are you ready for another round?” Jean’s suggestion is met with a fiery look in Armin’s eyes; the smaller boy is ready to go again, but he is determined to make some changes first. “How about this: since you’re quicker at finding words, why don’t you focus on that and I’ll concentrate on typing. Does that sound good?”

“Alright.”

He reaches over and ruffles the boy’s hair. “Let’s go, partner.”

Their new formation is undoubtedly more efficient, but Armin’s brain is processing words faster than Jean can type. He’s got a huge backlog and Armin is urging him to speed up in the hopes that he will somehow type faster.

“YOU’RE TOO SLOW!” Armin’s shouts become louder as his excitement escalates.

“THIS IS AS FAST AS I CAN GO.”

“BED. BEND.”

“WHAT’S NEXT?”

“ENDITE. STEED. TASTE. TASTED.” Armin is jumping up and down now, and he’s reverted to pointing all over the screen again. “FASTER, FASTER!”

“DON’T PUT YOUR HAND THERE—IT’S IN THE WAY!”

Jean almost loses it when he hears his mother’s voice match the volume of Armin’s as she shouts, “I DON’T KNOW WHY YOUR DIRTY TALK IS PEPPERED WITH STRANGE WORDS, BUT YOU BOYS BETTER NOT BE DOING ANYTHING NAUGHTY UP THERE!”

“MA, WE’RE JUST PLAYING BOGGLE.”

“OH, SO THAT’S WHAT THEY CALL IT THESE DAYS.”

“I’M BEING SERIO—” 

Armin chooses that exact time to yell out, “OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE, JEAN, FOCUS ON ME AND SPEED IT UP A LITTLE!”

Needless to say, Jean doesn’t allow Armin to play boggle at his house ever again. 


End file.
